Political Science

The Fall of Republics: A History from Ancient Carthage to the American Constitution

What caused the world鈥檚 great republics to fall鈥攁nd what their fate reveals about the dangers facing modern democracies today

Hardcover

Price:
$35.00/拢30.00
ISBN:
Published (US):
Jun 9, 2026
Published (UK):
Aug 4, 2026
2026
Pages:
448
Size:
6.13 x 9.25 in.

In this timely book, distinguished historian Thomas Madden explores the people, events, and factors that led to the collapse of some of the world鈥檚 most enduring republics鈥攆rom Carthage to Rome to Venice and beyond鈥攁nd examines the worrying lessons these failures hold for the United States and other democracies today.

The Fall of Republics not only tells the story of fallen states but also opens a window into how modern democratic republics were built on the ashes of the old. From Machiavelli to John Adams, philosophers and statesmen applied the lessons of lost republics to forge new ones that they hoped would be inoculated against the calamities that brought down their predecessors. The book reveals that republics thrive because they pit interests and powers against each other, balancing them across government branches to ensure stability and avoid tyranny. Republics are strengthened by adversity, which unites citizens despite their differences, and weakened by prosperity and security, which breeds division and partisan strife.

With their eyes on the ancient world, America鈥檚 founders built important safeguards into the Constitution鈥攂ut those safeguards are being tested today as the United States accumulates historical hallmarks of broken republics, from political violence to the politicization of the courts. The Fall of Republics offers valuable lessons and insights about what threatens republics鈥攁nd what鈥檚 needed to keep them alive.